# Almost-sneeze stuck halfway on its blast out of your sinuses **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 15, 2020, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973 "2020-02-15T06:11:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/1 "2020-02-15T06:11:20Z")
That itching tingle that doesn’t … quite … go … anywhere … while you sit there with a dumb look on your contorted face. Like the blue balls of the nose, or a sneeze that miscarried. Is it universal? Is there a cause? Do ze Germans have a word for this specific phenomenon, like they do for so many others? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/2 "2020-02-15T06:45:59Z")
I find if I look at sunlight/bright light I carry on with the sneeze. Of course I’m not really allowed to sneeze. Siamese cats are horrified by sneezing. Laughing, scratching, coughing and surprisingly the smell of Hall’s cough drops, are problematic as well. I tried explaining it’s the smell or the cough, they need to choose one. No dice. Sometimes breathing too deep disturbs them. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/3 "2020-02-15T06:46:49Z")
I know exactly what you’re talking about. I hate when that happens. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/4 "2020-02-15T07:07:06Z")
Yeah, I don’t have the “bright light -\> sneeze” reflex. (There’s a name for it. Damned if I can remember, but I bet someone smart will wander by eventually with the term. Photo-something? Helio-something?) Anyway, nope, my eyes aren’t wired into my nose like that. I was well into my twenties before I even learned that was a thing, and I thought that individual was yanking my chain at first. Tried to make myself sneeze just now, but who am I kidding? I can’t even make myself belch. Farted a tiny bit, though. Not much consolation. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/5 "2020-02-15T07:23:32Z")
Can you catch a yawn? ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/6 "2020-02-15T07:49:16Z")
[off-topic] Did Cecil ever address that time-old mystery: _“Why do sneezes come in pairs?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/7 "2020-02-15T13:25:45Z")
The almost-sneeze happens to me quite a bit. Often followed about a minute later by an explosive sneeze that comes completely unexpected after I’ve let my guard down. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/8 "2020-02-15T13:57:46Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > Yeah, I don’t have the “bright light -\> sneeze” reflex. (There’s a name for it. Damned if I can remember, but I bet someone smart will wander by eventually with the term. Photo-something? Helio-something?) [Photic sneeze reflex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex), sayeth Wikipedia. It doesn’t work on me either. When I’ve got an almost-sneeze going on, the only remedy I know of is to inhale sharply and repeatedly through my nose until whatever’s irritating me pushes my nervous system over the edge. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/9 "2020-02-15T15:53:38Z")
I’ve experienced _sneezus interruptus_ many times under many circumstances. Sometimes it makes my eyes water. Sometimes the sneeze shows up eventually. Sometimes if I apply pressure just under my nose, the urge passes. My ex-SIL used to sneeze 3 times in succession. At first, I thought he was screwing around, but, nope, it’s the way his nose was wired. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/10 "2020-02-15T16:30:23Z")
And it always seems to happen – at least with me – as somebody says “bless you” as I’m winding up for the sneeze. It’s a sure way to stop me mid-sneeze. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/11 "2020-02-15T17:10:12Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > … My ex-SIL used to sneeze 3 times in succession. At first, I thought he was screwing around, but, nope, it’s the way his nose was wired. my ex-coworker did this as well. Three quick, sharp sneezes every time. ACHOO!ACHOO!ACHOO! Then she was done. Weird. ---
**Author:** ![Anita\_Dayoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Anita\_Dayoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anita_Dayoff)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/12 "2020-02-16T00:47:52Z")
who call it a ‘snottzen notten’ ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/13 "2020-02-16T01:37:46Z")
Don’t and I mean DON’T try to quiet a sneeze. It’s alway objectional. Hurts like crap. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/14 "2020-02-16T02:53:32Z")
The German word for it is _ **Juckendeskribbelndasnichtganzirgendwohingeht.** _ ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/15 "2020-02-16T04:11:44Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > That itching tingle that doesn’t … quite … go … anywhere … while you sit there with a dumb look on your contorted face. Like the blue balls of the nose, or a sneeze that miscarried. > > Is it universal? Is there a cause? > > Do ze Germans have a word for this specific phenomenon, like they do for so many others? The almost sneeze when I’m in heavy traffic scare the hell out of me ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/16 "2020-02-16T13:40:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > [Photic sneeze reflex](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sneeze_reflex), sayeth Wikipedia. > [@cmyk](#): > > my ex-coworker did this as well. Three quick, sharp sneezes every time. ACHOO!ACHOO!ACHOO! Then she was done. Weird. Many years ago at work there were a couple of guys I’d regularly go to lunch with. We had this funny little ritual. As we walked out the door into the sun, one would count down “three…two…one…” and right on cue the other guy would start sneezing. “Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!” ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/17 "2020-02-16T14:47:33Z")
My friend and husband both sneeze in sunlight. It’s amusing to go on a hike with them, where we go in and out of the shadows. Her husband and I just chuckle at the two of them. I think most people who sneeze in multiples, always sneeze in multiples. If I sneeze more than twice, it probably means I’m sick. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/18 "2020-02-16T15:20:01Z")
The almost-sneeze that won’t come out happens to me a lot. It’s annoying, but nowhere near as annoying as the inevitable > [@someone using a teacher's pet voice](#): > > You shouldn’t stifle your sneeeeee-zes. I’m not stifling my sneeze! I’m trying to get it to come out!. Well, I would say that if I could, but I can’t talk because I’ve still got a reluctant sneeze controlling my nose and mouth. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/almost-sneeze-stuck-halfway-on-its-blast-out-of-your-sinuses/847973/19 "2020-02-16T16:28:24Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Don’t and I mean DON’T try to quiet a sneeze. It’s alway objectional. My professional and not always highly esteemed medical opinion is that it is not only harmless to stifle a sneeze, it is considerate of those around you who may not wish to inhale your widely broadcast snotticles.